If only Parker were a better weapon as a receiver, he would abuse those linebackers, like Westbrook did. But...he is what he is.

Until he's had the chance to prove otherwise, I think the jury is still out on Parker as a threat in the passing game. I would love to see him stay in the game on 3rd downs and catch some passes out of the backfield and let him do what he does best out in open space. Hell, throw him the ball on 1st and 2nd downs every now and then. He's just never been put in the position consistantly. With the Cowher regime, it was always Haynes, now it's Davenport.

As far as the question at hand, to blitz or cover? I think you need to knock the shit outa Brady as often as you can and play physical against their WR's. Hit them as soon as they leave the line of scrimmage and throw off those timing routes.

the best way to beat the pats is that at the strike of midnight on sunday, we all dust off our Ouija boards, light some candles and kinetically release a "hands across steeler country" and send out a mental projection so hard that both brady and belicheap lose the frontal lobes of their brains to some sort of atomic explosion. At least that's what the media thinks it will take...

or, somebody sneak into moss' room, leave a large package of chronic and turn off his alarm. he'll never wake up.

i think we're going to take this game, i'm usually a natural steeler pessimist but i just see us getting up for the game on the road, ben will be tight and our D will hold. all the media seems to be saying that the Ravoons and Eagles gave them a game because of offense, i agree their running games were nice but the Ravoons offense? give me a break, both of those teams have good defenses and this is the key. Last time i checked, we have the best defense in the league if not, according to that great article linked up by AJ, one of the best all time. so shut the fuck up and hit somebody!!

Cover.

« Last Edit: Dec 08, 2007 at 09:59 by jasonic »

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"If you make every game a life and death proposition, you're going to have problems. For one thing, you'll be dead a lot."

I think a mix of blitz and cover would be the most effective. I think a key here will be whether the Steeler D can stop the run with 6 or 7 in the box. It will be tough since the Pats will try to limit Big Snacks snaps by probably spreading it out and going pass. We need Casey in there as much as possible, but if the D can stuff Faulk and Larry without safety help, the secondary will be in a much better position to cover well. Make the Pats go all pass, and let Lebeau work his zone blitz magic. Its not necessarily how many people rush Brady, but where they come from, who there are, and when they come. The Ravoons were able to collapse the pocket and hit Brady with 4 or 5 guys coming. If the Steelers can get consistent pressure with their DL pus a LB or 2, they should be in fairly good shape.

Thanks aj. I will be around for the good, bad, and everything in between. I have an addiction. haha.

We get no sacks and give up 400 yds passing? Clearly, the Steelers did not do either. I have to admit that I am a bit shocked at how many yds Parker managed to get, though quite a few came with the game out of hand. Would have thought that 100 + yds from him would give us a good chance to win. Evidently, I thought wrong.

Yeah, clearly the didn't do either. The second best yardage for Brady in his career. Awful performance from the D. Also, Lebeau had no answer for the Pats O. Gave up big plays and didn't really rattle Brady..

Thanks aj. I will be around for the good, bad, and everything in between. I have an addiction. haha.

We get no sacks and give up 400 yds passing? Clearly, the Steelers did not do either. I have to admit that I am a bit shocked at how many yds Parker managed to get, though quite a few came with the game out of hand. Would have thought that 100 + yds from him would give us a good chance to win. Evidently, I thought wrong.

I'm probably just stating what you guys already know, but it's just that the Steelers were consistently facing third and long situations, because Mahan and Colon couldn't handle their assignments. Holding calls and sacks kept em from establishing a very consistent running game. When Willie got some halfway decent blocking he had a consistent 3-4 yards, and he had the speed to run away from the aging linebacking corps for those longer runs.

On the defensive end, they just couldn't get to Brady. Brady's offensive line is too disciplined to let rushers get in there untouched, and he had enough time to exploit the holes the blitzing corners left. What are they supposed to do?

It seems like the D did some good things early, then got burned deep two-three times, and LeBeau worried that his safeties were going to get fooled every other play (good assumption) and then played very cautious coverages.

Hence, the god-awful dinkery we were subjected to for 50 straight plays. That was the most boring blowout I've ever seen. I was screaming at the TV for us to jump some slants and screens and just try to get an interception. Instead, we played 5-10 yards off, even on one of those goddamn 4th-and-1 plays. They threw short, completion, first down.

Not saying LeBeau was entirely wrong as after the middle 2nd quarter or so there was ZERO that we were doing that was working.

It seems like the D did some good things early, then got burned deep two-three times, and LeBeau worried that his safeties were going to get fooled every other play (good assumption) and then played very cautious coverages.

dude, the steeler D officially 'jumped the shark' the moment kareen abdul jabbar gaffney was on the tail end of the longest flea flicker in the history of flea flickers. i actually had time to get up, take a leak, fix my hair in the mirror, walk to the fridge and grab another beer, look for some chips and then some dip, to sit back down to watch the end result.

played cautious with coverages???? was there even any coverage? The fucking cheaters ran 8 flippin rushes the entire game and most of those were in the waning moments. im sure it was pretty safe in assuming they were passing the ball every damn play. rush 4 play soft soft zone...rush 4, play soft zone, rush 4 play soft zone...wash rinse and fucking repeat....TD!!!!!!!!!!

the hearts were ripped out and i have never seen the steelers LB corps look so confused in my entire life.

ps...oh and I obstained from voting just so i can complain afterwards.